Big Feelings & Bigger Tunes: Jill Andrews Joins the Muck Fest

David B. Wheeler: 00:00:14

Hey, it's muck you, the American Muckrakers podcast where we sling mud at the high and mighty.

I'm David Wheeler, the clown who kicked off this circus, joined by my co founder and co host, Colonel Mo Davis, a guy so tough he penned Sovereign Oak, a book you can snag on Amazon.com if you're into good writing. We're normally here to roast phonies and rake the muck, huh? But today we have a very special musical guest live from Nashville for her introduction.

Take it away, Mo.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:00:48

Well, thanks and good to be back with you. And as David said, we do have a special guest today and kind of a little different turn for us.

You may not recognize the name Jill Andrews, but you probably recognize her voice. She's originally from Normal, Illinois, moved to Johnson City, Tennessee. I suppose she and I should not get along.

She went to East Tennessee State University and I went to Appalachian State, which were bitter rivals, and then ended up in Nashville, where she and her husband Jared, who is also an Air Force veteran and still in the Air National Guard and their two kids live.

One thing I, you know, I, like I said, I, I don't know that I recognized the name when it first popped up, but the voice certainly did because, and I'm not ashamed to admit this, I'm a devoted follower of Gray's Anatomy all 21 seasons and Jill's music has been featured a couple of times.

In fact, if you remember season 16, the final episode, the one where Owen finds out that his fiance has been cheating on him and she's got her wedding dress on. That was the season finale.

And one of Jill's songs is featured in, in that episode and also in this Is Us, which is another one of my, my favorites was on NBC. She's played with the, with the Avett Brothers, who are one of my favorite groups.

In fact, Seth Avet is on one of her songs and she has a new EP out called Big Feelings. So, Jill Andrews, thank you so much for joining us.

Jill Andrews: 00:02:20

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:02:23

Well, listen, I got to start off with, I was watching some of your videos over the weekend. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like your guitar of choice is a Gibson J45.

And I know that in that, well, in that, in Nash, I thought Nashville, the, the acoustic guitar, you're required to have a Martin. So you're, Are you a heretic or what? What's going on there?

Jill Andrews: 00:02:46

It's a Gibson LG one. It's a: 1951

Col. Moe Davis: 00:02:59

Wow.

Jill Andrews: 00:02:59

And I love it so, so much. It's. It's my little baby.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:03:04

t me beat. I have A Gibson. A: 1970

Jill Andrews: 00:03:12

That's awesome.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:03:13

How about tonight? You started out in Normal, Illinois, and then to Johnson City to Knoxville into Nashville. So how did you.

How did you get from Normal, Illinois to Nashville?

Jill Andrews: 00:03:25

Yeah, so my dad was always in university administration. He worked in. He worked at Illinois State University, which is in Bloomington Normal.

And he was in technology, like dean of Technology and things like that there.

And so he got a job at East Tennessee State doing more technology stuff there and quickly became like, vice president of administrative stuff and student affairs. It's kind of hard for me to remember all these facts because I haven't time talked about it in so long, but.

Yeah, so that's why we moved from Illinois to Tennessee, and. And Tennessee is really where I claim my home to be, because I was. I think I was seven when we moved from Illinois. It was a. It was a nice life there.

I remember it being really flat and we lived across from a golf course, and that's really all I remember. So. But East Tennessee was great. You know, I was surrounded by the mountains and I had a lot of really great friends there.

And then as far as moving to Knoxville, I started a band with some friends of mine in Johnson City called the Everybody Fields. It was like an alt country sort of band around the same time as Whiskey Town. And that was. That was one of our. Our biggest influences, that band.

Are you guys familiar with that band?

Col. Moe Davis: 00:05:02

Yeah, I am. I'm not sure about David.

Jill Andrews: 00:05:05

Yep. Yeah, they're North Carolina band. But yeah, we did a lot of touring and stuff, and then a few of the band members moved to Knoxville. So I was.

I was the lone one still in Johnson City. So I decided to move, move to Knoxville as well, to a bigger. Big bigger city and see what was going on there. And then Knoxville, we.

We stayed together as a band for quite a while and we released. We made three albums together. Released all three of those. And we were in the middle of making the fourth album when I decided to quit.

So the recording process wasn't really going well. The whole creative atmosphere was kind of flatlining, I think, for everybody. And I also was pregnant with my son Nico, who is now 15. So I wasn't.

I wasn't really, I wasn't really wanting to be in a van at 2:30 in the morning in a parking lot, outside of a bar anymore. Just very much what we did. We would, we would, we played a lot of shows and we just, I don't know, there's a lot of partying happening.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:06:25

Well, you know, going solo can have some big rewards. One of my favorite bands was Drive By Truckers.

And then Jason is, you know, split off and seems to have done pretty well for himself since he, he went solo.

Jill Andrews: 00:06:37

No joke. Yeah, yeah, he's, he's doing great. But. Yeah, so also.

Yeah, I, so I went solo in: 2009

Col. Moe Davis: 00:06:52

We know what my big connection to Johnson City, when I was at Appalachian State, back before you were born, it was a dry county where Appalachian State was located. So we would go to Johnson City. You could donate blood there. You got 25 a pint.

And then you could go to the, to the package store and get beer for the drive home. So I have a fond memories of those trips over to Johnson City.

Jill Andrews: 00:07:17

Two birds kind of scenario.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:07:19

Yeah, it was, it was a win, win all around. So I, I can't complain.

Jill Andrews: 00:07:25

I wonder if it's healthy to drink beer after you've donated blood.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:07:28

Well, you know, you've got less blood, so it actually takes less alcohol to get the same effect. So it really was, it was a win, win, win in that regard.

Jill Andrews: 00:07:36

Nice. That's great.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:07:39

Now we mentioned your, your husband Jared is an Air Force guy, which, you know, for me is always great, having an Air Force connection. How did you two meet? How did the Air Force guy and a, and a musician make the connection?

Jill Andrews: 00:07:55

Yeah, it's kind of a wild story. I mean, we would have never, ever met. I'm very much in a. Just my whole social life is. It's all musicians pretty much here in Nashville.

I don't know if you guys have heard of those dating apps or not, but I, I was on, I had just joined Bumble and I guess he'd been on for like a month or so. And I, you know, I, one of my friends was like, you should just try this out. And I was like, okay, I guess I will. So she'd kind of pushed me into it.

So I, I think I'd been on there for like two weeks and I saw this really cute guy pop up and he just looked so, I don't know, he just looked so healthy. Like, he looked athletic and healthy. And he just. His profile, he just seemed really sweet.

So I clicked on it or swiped on it or whatever and come to find out he was driving from San Antonio to. Well, actually he was driving back from San Antonio or back. Sorry, let me calm down.

He was driving back from Clarksville, which is where he's from, to San Antonio, Texas, which is where he was living because he was, he was working there at the base at Randolph. And so it was really kisment that we connected because it was, it was while he was probably while he stopped at. There's.

Trying to think of the name of it. There's a, a distillery in town that he stopped at to grab a few bottles of whiskey and matched with me there. So, yeah, it was a wild, wild match.

Speaker A: 00:09:50

Yeah.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:09:51

I've read the interview you did a while back where you talked about one of your songs and how it connected up with meeting Jared.

Jill Andrews: 00:09:58

Yeah, yeah. I mean it's, it's, it's so cool because we, we are really different in a lot of ways and our, our daily lives look really different.

I mean, he's working all kinds of shifts. You know, he's doing shift work, so he switches from day shift one month to mid shift to swing shift, you know, that kind of thing.

And so he's doing that. And I'm, I'm just like a free spirit over here.

You know, I'm self employed, so I make my own schedule and I'm writing one day and I'm going to yoga and I'm, you know, I'm just doing, doing all the things that I do, trying to, you know, keep my own career going. And it's fun to have somebody with a very, a very different lifestyle and ways about him to come in and, and meet me in the middle.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:11:00

Well, listen, your, your new EP is called Big Feelings and for folks that haven't listened to Joe, I'd encourage you to do it.

You know, I've got this vision, you know, if I die and go to heaven, and I know for a lot of you you're saying that's very unlikely, but bear with me if I do. I think the angels, their voices are going to sound just like Jill Andrews. So you got to go out and listen to her music. It's just, just beautiful.

And you know, some of the words in your songs I think are really particularly relevant today. And big feelings you talk about. I've got big feelings and sometimes I don't know what to do. I think that describes a lot of us right now.

Jill Andrews: 00:11:38

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

I Think there's, there's a lot of anxiety happening and it's, you know, you don't really know where to, where to put all that energy sometimes.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:11:57

And so what are you doing to deal with it? I know with, particularly with, with two fairly young kids and, you know, looking down the road, it has to be cause you some concern, so.

But how are, how are you dealing with it?

Jill Andrews: 00:12:10

A lot of exercise. That's, that's kind of my way of dealing with everything.

I, I didn't know that it helped me so recently and I don't know, I, I started getting into hot yoga. I don't know if you, are you guys familiar with what that is?

Col. Moe Davis: 00:12:30

I've never done. I'm, I'm holding out for goat yoga.

Jill Andrews: 00:12:37

I'd love to try goat yoga.

David B. Wheeler: 00:12:39

Yeah, I, I, we had hot yoga when I was a kid. It was called Walking Beans in Iowa, so.

Jill Andrews: 00:12:48

Nice. Yeah, it's, it's been really helpful for me. Basically, they just turn the heat up and you just sweat your ass off while you're doing yoga.

And it's kind of like being in a sauna and doing yoga at the same time. So it's also kind of like giving blood and being able to buy beer. Mission accomplished.

Yeah, but I think just, just being able to like, be in a room with other people and just focus on your breath and being able to kind of get into a meditative headspace, it's not something I'm, I'm very, I haven't done a lot of that in my life.

I've done, I've, I've been kind of a runner here and there and done a lot of exercising in different ways, but, like, kind of really trying to be present and focus on my breath is a very new thing for me. And it's also a very challenging thing.

David B. Wheeler: 00:13:46

Yeah, I hear you loud and clear on that front. I've got three of them, three kids myself, one of which is same name as your son, which is so funny. Nico. Nico. Our, our two Nicos. Yeah.

So I, I, my, my meeting you is a really interesting story too, Jill. I just, I'm delighted to have come friends with you and exposed to your music.

Just like Mo said, it kind of came at a point in my life where I needed something new and something uplifting, but still melodic and beautiful and, and you know, I met ironically, Mo has a house in Beach Mountain and we met in the chalet there. You'd come down off the slopes with your daughter, who was charming and probably going to be president of The United States someday.

And, man, she was funny. Oh, my gosh, she's so smart. And the tables were full, and I was having a beer, and you were having a beer with.

With your daughter, and we sat down and struck up a terrific conversation. And then Jared joined us and wondered, who is this knucklehead sitting here with my beautiful artist wife? And. But, you know, just a terrific family.

And it. It really touched me that you took some time to sit down, even though I didn't realize you were an artist until we got in the conversation.

But I have spent a lot of time with your music over the last couple of months after meeting you, and. And just like Mo said, I think, you know, there's something angelic about your voice that is also very mesmerizing, too.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:15:28

I mean, it.

David B. Wheeler: 00:15:29

It kind of takes you out of your current space, especially if you're having a shitty day or you just watch the news or watched Elon on Twitter or something. So you've been a. Been a vacation for me in parts of my headspace and want to thank you for that. And this new album is just. Just terrific.

You must be so proud of it. I mean, it's really the. It's at a crescendo point for your career. I.

Jill Andrews: 00:16:01

Yeah, I. First of all, I really appreciate all of that, and I. You know, it was. It was an interesting and strange meeting with you.

Like, not strange in a weird way, but just strange in a.

David B. Wheeler: 00:16:15

You wouldn't be the first woman to say that.

Jill Andrews: 00:16:17

So I told Jared after. After we left, I was like, there was something about that meeting, meeting David that I feel like we should have met him today.

Like there was something there. I was like, I feel like that was meant to be, and I don't ever. I don't feel like that very much. So just so you know, I felt it, too.

And then when you reached out later, I was like, ah, there he is. It's really, really cool. I felt like, I don't know, just felt akin to you.

David B. Wheeler: 00:16:49

I appreciate that, Jill.

Jill Andrews: 00:16:51

Yeah. Yeah.

David B. Wheeler: 00:16:53

Well, do you have some time to play a couple or a song for us or two? I know, folks, we've been hyping it, and we're putting you on the spot. You're gonna do a little solo song here, so whenever you're ready. Fire away.

And.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:17:13

And what's the backstory on this song?

David B. Wheeler: 00:17:16

Yeah.

Jill Andrews: 00:17:17

Yeah. So I think the first song I'll play is. It's called Low, and this is probably. I've written some sad songs for sure in my life. This is definitely.

This is one of the saddest ones. And I think. I think the day that I wrote it, I was just really feeling the heaviness of everything that's going on in our country.

And I think the heaviness, especially as a parent, because I have two kids and I'm just. You know, I'm endlessly, endlessly worrying about them.

And, you know, I think that's kind of the role of a parent in some ways, but I think it's just been. It's been amplified so much with technology and AI and just. It's like there's.

And the politics, our leadership, our current leadership, just all the madness and inhumanity that's been happening, it's very. It's very heavy, you know, and when you have kids and they're seeing it, too, it's just. It's like, this isn't how it's supposed to be.

People aren't supposed to be treating each other this way, you know, And I. I hate that they're seeing it. So. So this song is inspired by all that. It's called Low.

Speaker A: 00:19:03

Pull the shades down, baby I don't wanna see the sun Pull the blanket, honey Hide it all from everyone I need the silence I need a quiet say I need the feelings I feel to go away Pull the shades down, baby I don't wanna see the sun Lately I've been feeling Turn the news off, baby can't stand to hear the sound Come and lay here, honey Let me lay my troubles down I need some kindness I need some peace and calm I need you with me to wrap me in your arms Turn the news off, baby make it all just go away Lately I've been feeling low Know which way to go I don't know which way to go.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:22:09

Well, that was great. And listen, I'm really glad you bumped into David up at Beech Mountain.

Often when David bumps into women, there's usually litigation involved afterwards. So it's.

David B. Wheeler: 00:22:21

And sometimes the law enforcement.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:22:25

So, yeah, the fact there's no injunction yet, I think is very encouraging.

David B. Wheeler: 00:22:29

Well, ironically, I'm heading off to Nashville to see a really, really close friend of mine and. And Jill and the. And her husband. Hopefully, Jared will be free and.

And my friend David Wilhelm and I are going to get together and have a beer in Nashville. So there's still hope.

Jill Andrews: 00:22:45

I've got protection, though.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:22:46

Okay, good.

David B. Wheeler: 00:22:47

Exactly.

Jill Andrews: 00:22:48

My Air Force guy.

David B. Wheeler: 00:22:49

Yeah.

Jill Andrews: 00:22:49

Yeah, exactly, Colonel.

David B. Wheeler: 00:22:51

Exactly.

Jill Andrews: 00:22:53

Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. That'll be fun.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:22:57

Hey, Joe. I know for a lot of musicians, some of them are dipping their toe in the water on politics. And then there's, you know, blowback, you know, on.

On both sides. I mean, there's. There's some artists that, you know, I used to like a lot that I don't listen to now because of their political views.

I know there are folks on the other side of the spectrum that. That do the same thing. So how do you. How do you walk that tightrope?

Jill Andrews: 00:23:27

You know, I've been trying to figure that out. I think it's really. It's really tricky. I mean, it's such a divisive environment, and I think there's a whole lot of fear involved for everyone.

I know there is for me, and I think that's the point. I think there's a lot of fear and intimidation happening to make us be silent, to make us shut up, and it's heard loud and clear, you know.

So, yeah, I've been trying to figure out where my role is in all of it, but I think. I think the most important thing is, you know, people will always comment and say, just shut up and play music, especially to women. I've noticed.

But just. I've already. I anticipate things like that a lot when I. Anytime I say anything. And I think for me, my.

It's important for me to remember that I'm an American citizen, you know, and I care a lot about my country, and I care a lot about the people that live here, especially.

And I, like anybody else, whether I'm a musician, whether I have a platform of 10,000 people on Instagram or a hundred thousand on Instagram, you know, have the right to say, hey, guys, I don't like what's going on here. So, yeah, it's. But it is tricky. It's really, really tricky. And I haven't done a whole lot of speaking out, but here we go.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:25:20

Well, I noticed, like, on. I'm still on Twitter, which has become a real cesspool.

And it's not just women, because I get a lot of comments on there suggesting I do things that I couldn't. I wasn't limber enough to do when I was young, but I noticed, and.

David B. Wheeler: 00:25:38

I've seen those pictures, too, so.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:25:42

But I noticed you. I haven't. It seems like you've kind of backed off of Twitter.

You still see quite a bit on Instagram and some on Facebook, but has it just gotten too toxic over there?

Jill Andrews: 00:25:53

You know, I think I. I was fading off of Twitter before Elon's takeover, so I just. I didn't really have a whole lot of interest in it.

So it's been a very natural kind of moving away process for me. But I hear that it's, it's pretty, pretty bad over there.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:26:14

Well, the one good thing Elon did, I was an early investor in Twitter and the stock was in the tank, but when he came along and bought it out, actually got my head back above water. So I, I do have to thank him for that.

Jill Andrews: 00:26:26

How's it doing now?

Col. Moe Davis: 00:26:27

Well, yeah, well, you know, it's merged now with what he murdered. Was it SpaceX? It was immersed. It was some other.

David B. Wheeler: 00:26:35

No, with Grok, the. His AI company. His AI company, which is all private.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:26:39

So. Yeah, so it kind of buries the, you can't really tell the financials like you could when it was a standalone. So I, I, I don't know how it's doing.

Jill Andrews: 00:26:48

Yeah, well, that's cool.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:26:51

Yeah. Hey, your song, Old Scars, I saw again, looking at an interview you did, you, you explained the backstory on how that song came about.

Could you, could you talk just a little bit about that?

Jill Andrews: 00:27:04

Yeah, sure, I'd love to. And I'd love to, love to play that as well.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:27:11

Great.

Jill Andrews: 00:27:12

Yeah. So let's see. Old Scars. Let's see. I wrote that, I wrote it about a year ago, probably. I was, I was celebrating the release.

ll, I guess it was in October: 2024

And I was at a venue and there was a man there that was sweeping and like, moving the, like taking the garbage out and stuff like that. And he was really smiley. And we started talking.

I'm very attracted to smiley people, just friendly people, you know, and we started talking and he was asking me about my music because he knew that I was there to play and, and I was, you know, kind of giving him the rundown and telling him my history and stuff. And he was like, yeah, I, I moved to Nashville to be a musician as well. And I was like, oh, that's really cool. How's it going?

And he was like, ah, it didn't work out for me, you know, and, and, and like so many, so many people, so many musicians, it doesn't work out, you know, because it's a, it's a lot of work. There's a lot of, there's a lot of luck involved.

There's, you know, getting to, getting to know the people that can, the movers and shakers and things like that. And, and so I was feeling for him in that moment. And then later on that evening, he was still there, and he was. You know, he was.

As he was cleaning, he was humming, and I could hear his. How beautiful his voice was, and it made me really happy. But later.

Later on that night, one of my friends that had hired him to clean told me that he was homeless. And. And I didn't know, and. And so I wrote a song. I wrote this next song inspired by. By him. And also just, you know, a lot of it is.

I will say a lot of it is fictional because I don't really know his story. So I kind of imagined what it could be.

And I also just wanted to write something kind of about just trauma, like childhood trauma and things and how that can really affect someone for their whole life. So this song is called Old Scars.

Speaker A: 00:30:04

Old man rides a bus downtown every night when the sun goes down. He's looking for pleasure in all his pain. And it's pounding like a hurricane. Some people got it easy. Some people got it hard.

Some people bury wounds under old scars. His mother comes to him in dreams. Tender voice in the middle of the city. But he lost her love so long ago. He lost his way down a lonely road.

Some people got it easy. Some people got it hard. Some people bury wounds under old scars. You only ever see what he wants you to see. He gets real tired.

He goes to sleep on a park bench on a busy street. When he wakes up in the morning air. His old friend Payne is waiting there. Some people. Some people got it easy. Some people got it hard.

Some people bury wounds under old scars. Some hurt is just too deep. Can't remember who you are. Some people bury wounds under buried wounds. Some people bury wounds under old scars.

Old man rides a bus downtown every night when the sun goes down.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:32:50

Oh, that's beautiful. Okay.

Jill Andrews: 00:32:52

Yeah.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:32:52

It reminds me again, I'm a big fan of Jason Ispel, and I don't know if you're familiar with his song Last of My Kind. He's got a. Oh, there's a verse in there. He talks about old men sleeping on the filthy ground. They spend their whole day just walking around.

Nobody here else seems to care. They walk right past them like they ain't even there. So, I mean, to me, it says a lot about you that this guy who was a janitor was seen.

I mean, most people just, you know, you would think in an event like that, there were other people there that were probably more important, but you saw the guy that didn't have a place to sleep.

Jill Andrews: 00:33:28

Yeah. Yeah, there's. There was something about him. I don't know. He was, he, like I said, he had the biggest smile.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:33:38

Yeah.

Jill Andrews: 00:33:39

And he, he. I've seen him around town recently and I think he's doing pretty well. He. I think he has like a full time job now.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:33:50

I agree. Yeah, we have to, yeah, we have to get you back up to Beech Mountain. Jason Isbel is playing there this summer, so I'm pretty excited about that, but.

Jill Andrews: 00:33:58

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:33:59

Yeah. So we need, we need Jill Andrews to. Yeah.

Some of my favorite steep canyon rangers, you know, from here, and they played up there last summer and we got Jason Isbell coming this summer, so. Yeah. Something to look forward to.

Jill Andrews: 00:34:14

Yeah. Tell. Tell the powers that be that you want, want me up there.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:34:18

All right.

Jill Andrews: 00:34:19

And I'll be there. I love, I love Beach Mountain.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:34:22

Yeah, it is a special place.

It, you know, I, I grew up around here and then joined the Air Force and saw the rest of the world and it really made me appreciate, you know, western North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There's just no other place like it.

Jill Andrews: 00:34:37

Yeah, I, I grew up going there a lot because I lived in Johnson City and so we skied in Beach Mountain and I, I played numerous shows in Boone and, and in Asheville and just all over North Carolina.

David B. Wheeler: 00:34:55

So. Has that gentleman ever heard the song? I assume he has.

Jill Andrews: 00:35:02

No, he does.

David B. Wheeler: 00:35:07

Well, we gotta.

Jill Andrews: 00:35:09

Well, just because I don't know if he would like it or not, you know.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:35:12

Yeah.

David B. Wheeler: 00:35:13

Yeah.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:35:13

That's interesting.

Jill Andrews: 00:35:15

Yeah, I, I didn't want to cross the boundary there, you know, I'm inspired by certain things and. Yeah, I, I don't know. I don't know if he would like it. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't, but I don't know, I just. It'll be a mystery.

David B. Wheeler: 00:35:30

Yeah. Yeah. Well, maybe he has started. Who knows? Who knows? So what, what's your favorite place to play? In the States or abroad?

I mean, I know you've, you've been in outside of the country a couple times. What. Where was your favorite concert that you remember?

Jill Andrews: 00:35:49

Well, one of my favorites was I opened for the Avett Brothers at Red Rocks a few years ago.

It was in July and it was hot as hell and I just, I don't know why, but I wore a turtleneck and I just remember my guitar was like melting into my arms. It was, it. The finish was coming off of my guitar. It was so hot and the sun was just beating, beaming right on it. So.

But just to be on a stage that magnificent in that scene, you know? It's. It's such a beautiful place and playing for their fans. They're. They're always great fans and those dudes are awesome. So, yeah, that was.

That was a amazing experience for me. I mean, I. I just. Let's see.

Last fall or this past fall, I went on a UK tour and I brought my parents with me just because they had never really been over there. My mom had never been over there at all. My dad had been to London once, but.

So we rented a car and I was driving, driving us all over the place on the wrong side of the road. And I was so nervous about the whole thing, but. Because I didn't want to kill my parents driving on the wrong side of the road.

But I'd had a little experience and, yeah, I would say that tour in general was so fun just to. To spend that kind of time with my parents. You know, it was like I was living back at home with them again in a way.

You know, my kids weren't there, my husband wasn't there, and it was just me and them and it was. It was a really sweet time.

David B. Wheeler: 00:37:32

And did you get to play at all in the UK or.

Jill Andrews: 00:37:35

Yeah, yeah, I played. I think I played eight shows while.

David B. Wheeler: 00:37:38

I was over there.

Jill Andrews: 00:37:39

I played in all over England and Wales and Scotland and Ireland, actually. Yeah. So all over the place.

David B. Wheeler: 00:37:47

Wow. And I assume you had a really good response and great experiences.

Jill Andrews: 00:37:53

Yes, yes. Yeah. The people over there are just lovely. For sure.

David B. Wheeler: 00:38:00

Yeah.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:38:03

One of the places you played was Glasgow, and there's an event here in Asheville called the Leaf Festival, where they bring in bands. And there's a band from Glasgow called we banjos3 that I'd never heard of.

Jill Andrews: 00:38:16

Oh, that's cool.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:38:17

They just blew me away. They. You know, it's obviously three guys and one of them plays a banjo, but they were really good.

And they were all from the Glasgow area, which is a beautiful place.

Jill Andrews: 00:38:30

It is, yeah. It's. You really have to pay close attention to what people are saying when you're there because it's really hard to understand the dialect.

David B. Wheeler: 00:38:40

Yeah.

Jill Andrews: 00:38:41

It's just wild how different ever, you know, how. How close together the countries are over there, but how they retain their differences in dialect. It's so wild to me.

David B. Wheeler: 00:38:55

Did you write anything while you're there?

Jill Andrews: 00:38:58

No, I didn't. Oftentimes when I'm touring, it's like just too hectic. Yeah, yeah, it's just.

I'm driving all day, I'm playing all night, I'm sleeping barely and driving again. The next day. So, yeah, not much time. But I, I do. I do take the inspiration with me back home, you know.

David B. Wheeler: 00:39:19

Cool. Well, we're talking today with Joe Andrews from Nashville, and you can learn more about jill@jillandrews.com Pretty simple.

And, you know, we get into politics a little bit here, Jill, and we're going to try and stay away from that in interest of your career.

But, I mean, are there people in Tennessee or in the United States that, you know, have influenced you or politically involved these days that you look up to or you get inspiration from?

Jill Andrews: 00:39:56

That's kind of a hard question. Well, there's Justin Jones.

David B. Wheeler: 00:40:00

Yep.

Jill Andrews: 00:40:01

Representative Justin Jones. I think he's very brave just to go, you know, to go against the grain, as he has done. And that's hard. I don't know. It would.

It's hard for me to imagine disrupting in the way that he did, but I find that to be very, very brave. Let's see, what else?

I mean, there's organizations after the Covenant School shooting here in Nashville, there's folks that are trying to make real change, you know, with the gun violence that happens here in our country and in our state. And so my dad and I have taken part in some of that kind of stuff. We were part of Moms Demand Action, which was really funny.

I was like, do you want, dad? Do you want to come to this with me? He was like, sure, I don't care. So we went to it together. He's not a mom, but there are a lot of non moms there.

So, yeah, I think, I do think it's important to, you know, just to stay. To stay knowledgeable about what's going on in the country and what's going on in your state and try to do what you can as an individual.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:41:46

When you mentioned Mom. Mom's Demand Action, we had. David Hogg was on last week, a week before last with us, and we're trying to get Shannon Watts.

He was the founder, who's a lady I've got a lot of respect for because I, you know, I know she's taken a lot of verbal abuse for, you know, being a very vocal advocate on gun regulation. But she is persevered and, yeah, is really doing, Doing good work.

Jill Andrews: 00:42:13

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I, I listened to the David Hog episode. That was really, really cool that you guys had him on. I look up to him as well.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:42:21

I'm just curious, who do you listen to when you, when you need some tunes to kind of escape to? Who do you. Who do you Put on.

Jill Andrews: 00:42:31

Yeah. See, I've been listening to Phantogram a lot. Have you guys heard of them? They're more like pop, right? Pop kind of stuff I listen to.

Oh, one of my very, very, very favorite albums of all time is the Killers. And the album called. What is it called? It's called Pressure Machine. Have you guys ever heard that?

Col. Moe Davis: 00:43:03

Yes.

David B. Wheeler: 00:43:04

Yep. Yep.

Jill Andrews: 00:43:06

That. That is one of the most. I don't know. Every time I listen to it, I just cry and cry and cry. It's just so good. That album has inspired me a lot.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:43:21

Hey, how'd you. How'd you end up connecting? You've had at least two songs on Grey's Anatomy. How did that work out?

Jill Andrews: 00:43:28

Yeah, so I work with. I work with companies here. I've had a variety of different companies, but they, they pitch my songs to film and tv.

There's always, you know, they're always looking for songs for certain scenes and they'll send out a request.

The show will send out a request like, here's the scene, you know, Deborah and Pat are sitting in the living room talking, and they'll kind of lay out the whole scene and they'll say, we need a. A pop song or we need a, you know, self. A woman empowerment song or whatever. And so a lot of the songs that I've written have just worked for.

For scenes, you know, they just. It just kind of fit right in.

And then I've specifically written some songs, songs for scenes like I read the brief and then I wrote a song based on the brief. So, yeah, that's. That's always really, really fun to hear your music used in shows.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:44:36

Briefly. Grey's Anatomy again, I, you know.

Yeah, probably catch a lot of grief for admitting I'm a addicted to Grey's Anatomy, but I've been watching it for 21 seasons, but part of it is a strong word. And it's renewed for a 22nd season, so it's got some.

Yes, it's got some staying power, but one of the things I've always liked about it, they have the best music on there. A lot of times when I just want something to listen to, I'll. I'll plug in Grey's Anatomy and the music from that show is just spectacular.

Jill Andrews: 00:45:11

Yeah, it is. And it's always been that way. You know, they purposely purposefully, like, have really sought out some good music. And so, you know, it's.

It's awesome for somebody like me to find. Find their music on there because I think I'm in really good. I'm in good company.

David B. Wheeler: 00:45:36

It's good stuff. Well, Jill, it's been a pleasure having you on today.

Speaker A: 00:45:40

Thank you.

David B. Wheeler: 00:45:41

Yeah, it's really sweet of you to do this and, and play your beautiful music for people or listeners and my, my colleague Mo and myself. So we really appreciate having you today.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:45:54

Whoops.

David B. Wheeler: 00:45:55

Oh my God. There it goes.

Col. Moe Davis: 00:45:58

The timer.

David B. Wheeler: 00:45:59

That's my timer. Sorry, Jill, you just about got played off. I think we'll leave that in. But that's a wrap for mucu. Where the mud flies and the phonies fry.

I'm David Wheeler, the ringmaster the Muckfest alongside my good friend Colonel Mo Davis, who's tougher than a sovereign oak and twice as rooted. Grab Moe's book on Amazon if you've got the taste.

Again, it's sovereign oak on Amazon.com We've taken a reprieve from politics this week to bring you singer and songwriter Jill Andrews beautiful, gorgeous music and had a lovely conversation with her. Please learn more about Jill at JillAndrews. Catch you next time when we rake it up again. Until then, muck you.

Jimmy Muckster: 00:46:53

This has been Muck youk co hosted by Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville, North Carolina and David Wheeler in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Thanks to our special guest today, Jill Andrews, an award winning singer songwriter who came to us live from Nashville.

merican Muckrakers. Copyright: 2025

You can learn more and donate@americanmokrakers.com Follow us on Blue sky under American Muckrakers. Again, thank you to Jill Andrews for joining us this week and sharing some of her music.

Speaker A: 00:48:00

I've got big feelings and sometimes I don't know what to do Sometimes you don't know what to do to I've got big feelings I've got big feelings I got big feelings I got big feelings and sometimes I don't know what to do and sometimes you don't know what to do to Sometimes I don't know what to do Cuz the tears keep coming.